(Wines&Vines) - While online wine sales were virtually non-existent in China as recently as a few years ago, nearly 20% of wine in the country is now sold through e-commerce, according to a speaker at the Cal-China Wine Forum held Tuesday at Napa Valley College.

Wayne Batwin, president of PRIME Market Access International in Napa, is a consultant to the nascent Cal-China Wine Culture Exchange, which organized the event. According to Batwin, Chinese e-commerce is growing rapidly, with food and beverage products performing especially well in the sector. But the sales channel also presents challenges to North American wineries looking to cash in on new sales avenues.

For example, the majority of wines sold online are priced less than 100 RMB, or about $16 per bottle, and import duties alone are around 48% for wines originating from the United States. While France still handily beats out the competition (representing more than 40% of wine imports in China, according to the Organisation Internationale de la Vigne et du Vin), Chile and New Zealand recently scored a coup by negotiating better trade deals with the country of 1.36 billion. In fact, this year Chilean wine producers won’t pay any duty fees at all, Batwin says.

Importers and distributors

Additionally, many online sellers in China won’t want to work through an importer, so the North American wineries currently lacking distribution in China may have the easiest time finding a niche in China’s online sales channel, according to Batwin.